Property of Carole Lombard
At her untimely death at age 33, Carole left behind quite an impressive estate. Unfortunately, it has been said that her most valuable furs, clothes and jewels perished with her in the plane crash. Still, there were treasures left behind.
I have the listing of Carole’s personal property that was appraised at her death; it is quite long and full of much legal mumbo jumbo. The settling of her estate lists it all more concisely and together, but I found the appraiser’s notes on how much everything was worth rather intriguing.
So here are the highlights, from the appraiser’s report.
Bank accounts:
Jewelry and furs:
Yowza. Carole definitely had an impressive jewelry collection, especially considering her most valuable items were on board with her. What was left behind was nothing to scoff at. I would like to see this ring that had nine rubies and thirty six diamonds! And look at all those furs–PETA would not approve! I am quite intrigued by “monkey fur cape”. Monkey fur?!
Misc personal effects:
All of her clothes only worth $250? Wow. I know she took her “best pieces” with her to Indiana, but that seems to be a small number. Clark gave away some of clothes to friends and, ever the spendthrift, sold the clothes she had recently bought from production of “To Be or Not to Be” back to RKO. After he remarried, he stored Carole’s personal items in the attic of the ranch. Following his death in 1960, Kay began selling Carole’s things to her fans, which was a nice thing to do. I have always wondered what became of the gray Irene suit Carole wore on her wedding day and the lavender gown she wore to the Atlanta premiere of GWTW. Perhaps some lucky fan has been hoarding them in their basement?
1941 Cadillac for $1,325! And actually I am impressed by the value of her bedroom set. $1,600 would buy you a pretty nice bedroom set today. Wonder what happened to her bedroom furniture, anyway. I think it went to the wayside during Sylvia Ashley’s “grand remodeling”.
Property:
Wow, look at that land in Los Angeles. Nowadays it would be worth at least 100 times that.
Film interests:
By the time her estate was officially settled in 1946, it states that the money had been released to Clark.
And you might recognize this signature, of the executor of her estate:
Interestingly, it lists here that she owned the title and interest to a story called “But Is It Love” by Helen Deutsch–one would presume she was hoping to star in a movie version. I couldn’t find any mention of a story by that title written by Deutsch. In fact an internet search on her notes that her first screenplay was “The Seventh Cross” in 1944. Odd. How did a story of hers end up in Carole’s hands two years earlier? Deutsch was apparently an MGM screenwriter, who penned classics such as “The Loves of Carmen” (1948), “Lili” (1953) and “The Valley of the Dolls” (1967). Her biography does mention that she wrote short stories for womens’ magazines. Perhaps “But Is It Love” was one of those? Whatever it was, it piqued Carole’s interest!
I had no idea what it meant by “motor glider”, worth $50. Looking it up, it is defined as “a fixed wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power.” Further documents mention its engine number. Interesting. What was she doing with that? Clark apparently didn’t want it, as he petitoned the court to sell it before her estate was settled– In 1945, he sold it to someone named Fred Weber for $50. The court document states “its nature is such that it is continually depreciating in value by reason of lack of use and care thereof”.
24 Comments
Hassie
Thank you for posting this most interesting account of Miss Lombard’s personal estate.
I was fortunate enough to obtain the patriot eagle which was the door knocker of the encino estate from 1939 until Kay Gable sold the property in 1973. You have a nice clear photo posted of Kay standing next to this door knocker.
Keep up the fabulous job your doing in honoring the King of Hollywood, Clark Gable!!!
Michelle
Thanks so much for posting this – it is absolutely wonderful.
Hassie, I love that you have the door knocker of their house! I’m involved with a Clark Gable project at the moment and would love to see a photo of it if possible…. Thanks!
Debbie
It is fantastic to be able to see all of this. Webmistress, you are AMAZING!
Hassie
Michelle…I have taken many photos of the door knocker since receiving it which I would gladly send you. There are also two very good photos on this site, one of Clark taken in front of the Encino home in 1939; and then there is the one of Kay standing directly in front of the door knocker taken in 1961…Pam aka Hassie
Mae Glover
You tell me that pretty cape she wore was made of monkey ewheee!!!! this make my hair stand on my head and skin crawl.Yikes!
Vincent
But what happened to her impressive sapphire set, the ruby clips + ring and bracelet and all the other jewels you see her wearing in publicity stills? Did she take all those valuable assets on a bond selling tour?
admin
I assume so. It has been said that she took all her best pieces with her on the tour. The ruby clips I know she did bring, there are pictures of her wearing them and Clark received back the chunks of them they found in the wreckage.
Kimberly
Very cool. I have seen some of these before, but not all as you have listed here. Thank you for sharing! Great information! Boy she was a smart investor. Clark made out big. Because I know she also bought the house they lived in with her money and added him to the title. I think it is sad that all her hard work and money basically was given to Kay. And I hate that Sylvia was so insensitive. I also read recently that they current house on Petit, is now subdivided and the street I think is Tara or something to do with Gone with the Wind.
Betsy
Vincent, were you referring to her star sapphire collection (huge round ring and a broach)? I read she sold those pieces in about 1936. In fact, I have always wondered if she sold them to William Powell, because Jean Harlow was photographed wearing a ring that strongly resembled Carole’s in the year prior to her death.
Lacebra
Looks EXACTLY like Harlow’s ring. I have always been convinced it is the same ring. Powell was a notorious cheap skate and carol was anxious to get rid of many objects associated with her past after she married Gable. Who knows…Powell may have originally purchased the set for Carol. I have read Harlow’s ring was poor quality. Her ring disappeared after she died. Many people suspect Powell took it.
andrea meine
love your site. a lot of interesting information on carole Lombard and clark gable as well. did carole Lombard have a favorite band leader or favorite song from WORLD WAR 2?
John Spahn
Harlow ring was returned to Powell after her death. See estate records.
Glenn
A Motor-Glide was a gas powered scooter. There are photos of CL with one. $50 is a reasonable value.
mary whittaker
So Gable had a locket made with some strands of her hair and bits of the ruby clips recovered from the crash site. Does anyone know what became of that? I’d imagine that his son got it after he died if Kay didn’t dispose of it some other way but curious….
DMGAdmin
I’ve always been curious about what happened to that too but I have never heard. If his son had it, I have no doubt he would have sold it by now as he did everything else. It would be worth a lot of money with Carole’s hair in it.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Kay got rid of it. If someone had it I imagine it would have popped up somewhere by now.
Ramona Jackson
Carole Lombarde was wearing the ruby clips and her wedding ring during the crash. A small part of the clip was retrieved and returned to Gable from her body and he wore it in a locket until his death. It was badly damaged by the high temperatures of the fire.
Unfortunately her left arm was severed in the accident. It has not been recovered to date. Lombard’s wedding ring was lost in the crash with her severed limb.
Greta
Not true. Her wedding ring was found last month. So has the gold band she was wearing in Indiana. One of her ruby clip earrings has been found. Along with one of the rubies in her skyrocket clips. The diamond watch she gave her mother has been found as well.
Brian marcello
Greta what are the chances that one person has found her wedding ring, ruby clips and diamond watch when that site was searched by thousands over 80 yrs?
Greta
Slim but those items are the real deal. Technological equipment is so advanced now and the man who found them is a geologist. Others looking for those things have been amateurs and pretty much lookie-loos. What’s more this man has been looking for items for 15 years. It was just a matter of time until they were found. There are photos of her wedding ring on the net.
The ruby in her ring is synthetic as are the rubies in her earrings.
Greta
Sorry to write so much but the gold band she was wearing in the photo of her signing bonds has been found too.
Greta
I have the photos of everything but don’t know how to upload them here from my iPhone. Btw, I forgot, a pair of her diamond stud earrings was found.
Michelle Teall
I’ve read a great deal on Bill Powell and have never, ever read a single thing about him being cheap or thrifty. He remained friends with Carole after their amicable split. Star Sapphire jewelry was his gift of choice to his lovers.
Jerry Robbins
While her clothes were valued at $250,- with inflation their worth today would be $5,342.
Larry James
I am a huge fan of Carole Lombard’s. My dream is to own something of hers. At least one item. Could you give me direction is getting such? Are there existing &ly members who may want to sell something?
Please contact me. Thank you so much.